AR experiences can now be shared across time and fixed to real-world locations, so you can create a piece of AR art that can be viewed later in the same place by someone else.

3D object recognition

ARKit 2 recognises objects and how your device is oriented to them, and can use that information to incorporate objects into AR experiences.

Face tracking

Face tracking now sees where you’re looking and can detect whether you’re sticking out your tongue or winking.

Scene reflection

AR is even more lifelike, enabling virtual objects to reflect the real-world scene in your camera.

USDZ file format

A new format that helps 3D creators to create rich content and animations optimised for mobile devices.

AR Quick Look

View AR experiences in the apps you use every day, including Files, Mail, Messages and Safari.

Measure app

Draw straight lines to measure objects and surfaces both vertically and horizontally using your iPhone or iPad camera, and automatically detect dimensions of rectangular objects.

Photos

For You tab

A single destination for your Memories, Shared Album activity and the best moments in your library. Featured Photos and Effect Suggestions intelligently show you your best photos and propose effects to make them even better.

Sharing suggestions

Photos understands when you’ve done something meaningful, like taking a trip or attending an event, and will suggest sharing the photos with the people who are in them. And if you receive photos from someone else, your device will look for photos in your library from the same event and suggest sharing photos back.

Intelligent search suggestions

Smart suggestions help you find photos even before you finish typing by suggesting events, people, places and relative dates.

Places search

Search for photos based on the places or businesses where you were when you took them, whether it’s a general category, like “Japanese restaurant”, or a specific place, like “Jacques Torres Chocolate”.

Event search

Search for photos from events you’ve attended, like the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Multiple keyword search

Now you can combine keywords in searches, like “surfing” and “holiday”, for even better results.

Improved import

It’s easier than ever to import photos and videos from your professional camera on the go.

RAW editing support

You can now edit your RAW images in Photos on iPhone and iPad models with an A9 chip or later.

Redesigned Albums tab

Find existing and shared albums more quickly and efficiently.

Camera

Improved Portrait Lighting

Portrait mode photos are better than ever. Camera now generates a mask when it detects a person and intelligently and elegantly separates the person from the scene.

Portrait Segmentation API

A new API for third-party developers allows for the separation of layers in a photo, such as separating the background from the foreground.

Improved QR code reader

Camera now highlights QR codes in the frame, making them easier to scan.

Siri

Siri suggestions

A quicker way to do the things you do most often. As Siri learns your routines, you’ll get suggested shortcuts for just what you need, at just the right time, on the Lock screen or in search.

Add to Siri

Add shortcuts to Siri to run them with your voice on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch.

New Shortcuts app

Create or customise your own shortcuts to run multiple steps at once. Get started with examples from the gallery and personalise with steps from across your apps.3

Shortcuts API

App developers can work with Siri to run shortcuts via a new SiriKit API.

Motor sport

Get live rankings, fixtures, teams and stats for NASCAR and other racing series.

Translation

Translate phrases into many more languages, with support for over 50 language pairs.

Celebrity facts

Check facts about celebrities, such as “Where was Amy Adams born?”

Food knowledge

Ask Siri questions about food and get answers from the US Department of Agriculture database, including calories, vitamins and how healthy a food is overall. For example, ask “How much caffeine is there in coffee?” or “How healthy is fish?”

Photos Memories search

Use Siri to quickly pull up photos and memories based on people, places, events, time, and keywords of objects and scenes in the photos.

Passwords

Siri can help you search for any password.

Find My iPhone

Ask Siri to help find your misplaced iPhone, iPad or AirPods.

Torch

Ask Siri to turn the torch on and off.

Privacy and Security

Enhanced tracking prevention

Improvements prevent Share buttons and comment widgets on web pages from tracking you without your permission in Safari. Safari also prevents advertisers from collecting your device’s unique settings, so they can’t re-target ads to you across the web.

Automatic strong passwords

Automatically create, autofill and store strong passwords in Safari and iOS apps. Passwords are stored in iCloud Keychain and are available on all your Apple devices. And if you ever need to access your passwords, just ask Siri.

Password reuse auditing

Passwords that have been reused will be flagged in the passwords list, so you can quickly navigate to the app or website and replace the password with an automatically generated strong password.

Security code AutoFill

SMS one-off passcodes will appear automatically as AutoFill suggestions, so you never have to worry about quickly memorising them or typing them again.

Password sharing

Easily share and receive passwords from nearby iOS devices, from an iOS device to a Mac, and from an iOS device to Apple TV.

Password Manager API

Access passwords stored in third-party password managers directly from the QuickType bar in apps and in Safari (requires third-party adoption).

App Updates

Apple Books

The Apple Books app has been completely redesigned to make it easier for you to discover, read and listen to your favourite books. Access your current book or start a new one in the Reading Now tab, visit the new Book Store to browse and buy, and organise your library with more flexible collections.

Stocks

The redesigned Stocks app keeps you more informed about the market. View prices at a glance in the customisable watch list. Tap any ticker to see key details and an interactive chart. And for the first time ever, Stocks is available on iPad as well as iPhone.

Voice Memos

Voice Memos has been redesigned and is available on iPad. It’s even easier to capture your personal reminders, edit lectures or share family moments. And with iCloud, you can record on your iPhone or iPad and harness the power of your Mac to do even more.

Even More

CarPlay navigation

CarPlay now supports third-party navigation apps, giving drivers even more choices for a familiar experience on the dashboard while they drive.

More battery information

The battery usage chart in Settings now shows your usage for the last 24 hours or 10 days. Tap a bar to see your app use for that period of time.

iPad gestures

iOS 12 for iPad includes updated gestures that make it easier to navigate. You can now go to the Home screen by quickly swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Get to Control Centre more conveniently with a swipe from the top-right corner.

Keyboard

Turn the QuickType keyboard into a trackpad on devices without 3D Touch by touching and holding the space bar.

New dictionaries

Enjoy three new language dictionaries: an Arabic and English bilingual dictionary, a Hindi and English bilingual dictionary, and a Hebrew dictionary.

English Thesaurus

Get synonyms and related concepts for words with English Thesaurus.

New markup tools

When you mark up a screenshot or PDF or draw in Notes, you can now choose from more colours, line weights and opacities for each tool.

Favicons in Safari on iPad

View website favicons on tabs in Safari to identify your open tabs at a glance.

Automatic software update

A new option allows iOS software updates to be installed automatically, so you always have the latest. When you enable this setting, software updates will be installed overnight.